Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Tenderfoot will get checked for class in Jazil Stakes
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – When Charlton Baker claimed Tenderfoot last summer at Saratoga, jockey Ricardo Santana Jr., who had ridden the horse in that race, had a message for Baker.
“He told me he’s a nice horse. You’re going to have a lot of fun with this horse,” Baker said.
So far, Santana has proven prophetic. After finishing fifth in his first start for Baker, Tenderfoot has reeled off three consecutive victories. He brings that streak into his stakes debut in Saturday’s $100,000 Jazil Stakes at Aqueduct.
“I thought he might be okay, win some nice condition races,” Baker said. “He turned out to be a lot more than we actually thought.”
Tenderfoot’s winning streak began at Belmont in an off-the-turf maiden $40,000 claiming race, which he won by 10 1/2 lengths, on Oct. 29. He came back five weeks later at Aqueduct to win a starter allowance over next-out winner Invaluable. On New Year’s Day, in the mud, Tenderfoot won a first-level allowance by six lengths, earning a 94 Beyer Speed Figure.
“I thought it was a good race,” Baker said. “He’s a horse that trains like that. I thought he took a step forward from his first race to his second, and he took another step forward from that race to his last race. I don’t know where he goes from here.”
Baker said he had been looking at a second-level allowance race in February for Tenderfoot until Sunday, when the horse worked a half-mile in 46.26 seconds over the Belmont Park training track.
“He galloped out real strong,” Baker said. “I figured if he’s doing as good as he looks like he’s doing, let’s take a shot and see where he fits”.
The Jazil drew a field of only five, including Mr. Buff and Backsideofthemoon, who have combined to win the last three runnings of this race.
Eric Cancel will ride Tenderfoot in the Jazil.
Baker said that Honor Way, who ended her 6-year-old season with back-to-back stakes wins, missed Monday’s $100,000 Interborough Stakes at Aqueduct due to a bruised foot.
Baker said he could have run Honor Way in the race, but she wouldn’t have been 100 percent. Baker said that he opted to give
Honor Way some time off and point her to the Grade 3, $150,000 Distaff Handicap going seven furlongs on April 2 at Aqueduct.
Honor Way won the Pumpkin Pie Stakes on Nov. 1 and the Garland of Roses on Dec. 6. She has won 13 of 41 races and earned just less than $700,000.
“She has done so much I figure give her some time, give her a little breather, and there’s a race in April for her, so we’ll point her to that,” Baker said.
Excellent Timing changes barns
Excellent Timing, a New York-bred son of Not This Time whom Charlton Baker trained to a 7 1/4-length maiden victory on Dec. 10 at Aqueduct, was sold and is now with trainer Chad Brown.
Sol Kumin’s Madaket Stable, Marc and Joe Lore’s Wonder Stable, and Michael Dubb are equal partners on the horse, according to Kumin.
Excellent Timing is based at Payson Park in Florida, where he has worked twice, including a bullet half-mile in 48.80 seconds on Monday.
“I breezed him a couple of times and I like what I see so far,” Brown said by phone Wednesday. “Charlie did a really good job with the horse, and we’re happy to have the horse in our barn and hopefully we can develop him further.”
Brown said an allowance race, the Fountain of Youth on Feb. 27 at Gulfstream, and the Gotham on March 6 at Aqueduct “are all in play based on how he trains the next two to three weeks.”
Scratch affects feature
Targeted Return, a game winner of a maiden $50,000 claiming race on Nov. 26 at Churchill Downs, would have been one of the choices in Friday’s starter-allowance feature at Aqueduct, but trainer Chad Brown said the 3-year-old filly will scratch due to a temperature.
That could leave Timed Out as the favorite in the seven-furlong race, which goes as the seventh of eight races.
Timed Out, a daughter of Flat Out, made a long, sustained bid and drew off to win a maiden $40,000 claimer by 8 1/4 lengths on Oct. 21 at Monmouth. She was claimed out of that race by trainer Scott Volk for owner James Riccio Sr., who in turn moved her to trainer Rudy Rodriguez.
In the race that Timed Out won, there was spill at the head of the lane in which Tap the Barrel clipped heels and unseated her rider. Timed Out was in front before that happened.
Meanwhile, Tap the Barrel, trained by Wayne Potts, came back to win her next start by 14 lengths at Aqueduct and is back in this field.
Miss Comedian, third in a New York-bred allowance on Dec. 20, is a contender in this spot. The race she comes out of produced Secret Love, winner of last Saturday’s Franklin Square Stakes here.